


remember me

by icymapletree



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Coco AU, F/M, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Tony Stark Has A Heart, rhodey is also the old lady oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21535627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: “Sometimes, I think I’m cursed,” Peter said, looking up from the shoes he was shining, “because of something that happened right after I was born.”orA Pixar's Coco AU
Relationships: Ben Parker & Peter Parker, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	1. seize your moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a heads up that no one dies directly in the story, but a lot of the main characters are in the land of the dead
> 
> hope you enjoy!

“Sometimes, I think I’m cursed,” Peter said, looking up from the shoes he was shining, “because of something that happened right after I was born.”

The business man nodded, not looking up from his phone.

“See, fifteen years ago, there was this dad who was a scientist. He ran a whole company with his family.”

Peter stopped talking for a second, but the man had no interjections and his eyes stayed glued to the phone screen.

“The dad had a dream to show the world his inventions and he left to go do just that, but he never returned. His wife was heartbroken, but she had to keep providing for her step-son.”

The man tilted his head and cleared his throat, but Peter babbled on.

“After banishing all science from her life, she made her income by learning to make shoes. You know, she could’ve made candy, fireworks… or even those sparkly costumes superheroes wear. But she had to choose shoes!”

“She taught her sister and brother in law how to make shoes, who taught their family how to make shoes, who taught their children to make shoes - until everyone was roped in!”

Peter rubbed hard at a particularly dirty spot.

“Science had torn her family apart, but shoes held them all together, even after she passed away. That woman was my step-mother, Pepper. She died right after I was born, but May tells me her story every year on the Day of the Dead. Pepper’s sister, that’s Aunt May. She married my Uncle Ben and they're the ones who take care of me.”

“Then, of course, you can’t forget about Pepper’s best friend, Rhodey. He also takes care of me, even if he can’t remember sometimes. They run the house just like Pepper did. I think we’re the only family in New York who hates science! But I’m not like the rest of my family -”

The businessman cleared his throat again as he clapped a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “That’s great, kid. But I don’t need your life story, just need my shoes shined,” he looked down at his feet, “And they look pretty shined to me.”

“Oh, yeah. Uh, sorry,” Peter apologized, packing up. He took the money from the man and slipped his messenger bag over his shoulder.

He walked through Midtown Manhattan, the city a cacophony of noise.

It was always alive, someone was always awake and moving.

Peter looked past the skyscrapers to the end of the street where the tallest of them all was, Stane Tower.

He knew the layout like the back of his hand, having studied its blueprints since he was a kid.

While admiring Stane Tower, he saw a wet nose poke out of an alleyway, raised high in the air and sniffing.

A golden retriever with matted fur whipped its body around the corner, jumping up to greet Peter.

“Karen!” he laughed, “Calm down, girl, it’s just me.”

Peter kneeled down, running his hand along her coat.

“No one’s found you yet, have they? I wish I could bring you home, sweetheart, but May would never allow it.” He looked up and down the street. “But you can walk with me if you want.”

Karen excitedly barked, her tail wacking Peter in the side. He laughed and stood up, beckoning her with a whistle.

“You see the building down there, K? Obadiah Stane, the greatest scientist in the world, used to live there. He grew up in Queens, just like me.”

Peter grinned to himself, nudging Karen with his knee.

“When he showed off his inventions, people fell in love with him. He had a Lifetime movie, a Netflix documentary… he lived the kind of life people dreamed about - at least, until ten years ago, when the arc reactor in his Iron Man suit exploded, killing him.”

Peter looked up at the sky and sighed.

“You know, K, I wanna be just like him. Sometimes, I look at Obadiah Stane, and I get the feeling that we’re connected somehow. Like, that if he could do science, maybe I can too.”

Karen barked again, sighing with her tongue out.

“I’ve gotta go now, girl. See you later,” he smiled, patting her on the head.

Karen raced down the street while Peter smiled and waved at her. She disappeared down an alley when Peter turned to go into his apartment building. When he reached for the doorknob, a colorful sheet of paper caught his eye.

He tore it off of the wall, reading it with a sweeping gaze.

_Day of the Dead Science Fair in the Stane Industries lobby, 7 pm_

His heart swelled with hope as he shoved it into his messenger bag.

A couple flights of stairs later, Peter was opening the door to his apartment, the smell of turkey meatloaf wafting through the air. May was at the stovetop, pouring something into a pan and grabbing a wooden spoon.

“Hey May,” Peter smiled, putting his keys on the table.

“Peter! How was work today?”

“Good,” he nodded, “I’ve got some quick stuff to do for school before dinner though.”

May put one hand on her hip, stirring with the other. “You better be out here for dinner. You know how Ben gets when we aren’t all here - especially on the Day of the Dead!”

“I know, I know… will Rhodey be coming over today?”

“He always comes by on this day, Peter. Of course he’ll be here.”

Peter smiled and nodded, heading to his room. He locked the door with a click and listened for any footsteps coming in his direction.

When the coast was clear, he took a wooden pole and pushed on one of his ceiling tiles, a ladder dropping down. He clambered up into his little hideaway where he kept textbooks, notebooks, retro tech and lots of other stuff.

He rifled through a plastic bin of his creations, looking for something good enough to enter in the science fair.

When he saw his repulsor glove at the bottom of the plastic bin, he immediately knew what he would be entering.

The plans for the arc reactor - or any other fission reactor, really - were virtually nonexistent. Nonetheless, Peter had absorbed everything he could about it. He even thought that he would be able to create one if he got his hands on the materials.

However, he had been able to create a repulsor glove without the reactor. He thought that the glove would be impressive enough for the talent show, even if it wasn’t the way that Obadiah Stane had done it.

He cut wires and rerouted electrical paths, trying to make it perfect for that night.

It was only him and his invention, like he wished it could be outside of the attic in his room.

“Peter!” May yelled, breaking him out of his thoughts, “Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming!” he yelled back and shoved the glove back into his invention box. On his way down the ladder, he saw his Obadiah Stane poster with marigold petals and candles laid out below it. He remembering sneaking up the supplies in order to make an ofrenda for his hero.

Not wanting it to go unfinished, he took a lighter from his toolkit, lighting each of the flames.

He leaned back, admiring his handiwork. Satisfied, he leapt out of the ceiling and closed the tile.

He walked into the dining room, seeing May, Ben, and Rhodey seated and ready to eat.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” he smiled and pulled out his chair.

“That’s quite alright, buddy,” Ben said, “But while you’re up, can you bring some of the stuff on the counter to the ofrenda?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course.”

Peter took the items in his arms and walked to the living room where the ofrenda was set up.

He placed a candle below Pepper’s picture. Her picture used to have another man in it, Peter’s own father, but he was ripped from the image.

Peter ignored the pang of sadness in his chest as he used a lighter to light the remaining candles.

They were below pictures of his late family members - Uncle Happy, Aunt Natasha, Grandma Potts, Grandpa Potts, cousin Morgan and Uncle Bruce.

Some time later, May appeared behind him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“What’s going through that big head of yours?” she asked with a soft gaze.

“I’m just… I’m wondering about my dad, is all.”

Pity entered her eyes. “You know we don’t talk about him in this house, Peter.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I know… I just wish I could remember him.”

“I never met him, you know,” May said and glanced away, “My sister used to say that he was up in the clouds and always needed her to bring him back down to earth.”

May took a deep breath.

“But he couldn’t have been all that bad. Because if he had never existed, Ben and I could’ve never met you.”

Peter blushed a little bit as his gaze traced the photos on the ofrenda.

“Hey guys,” Ben yelled from the kitchen, “does anyone else smell smoke?”

The fire alarm blared. Terror coursed through Peter’s veins as he immediately realized where the acrid smell was coming from.

He burst through his bedroom door and pushed the attic open with the pole.

It had seemed so simple at the time, lighting a candle so that the legendary Obadiah Stane could visit the land of the living.

But now, it seemed pretty complicated as Ben threw his charred inventions to the floor.

“What is all this?” he asked firmly, “Are you keeping secrets from your family?”

Peter looked at his feet.

“This is no future for a son of mine,” May scolded.

“I’m supposed to be an inventor!”

“Never,” Ben shook his head, “Your father’s knowledge was a curse!”

“If you would just -”

“You will listen to your uncle.”

Peter’s eyes grew wide and watery. “Can I - can I just show you what I can do?”

Ben hesitated, but shook his head. “This is the end of the discussion.”

Peter shamefully walked from the room, where Ben and May were discussing what to do next.

He decided that the least he could do was go apologize to Pepper.

“Hi Pepper, it’s me, Peter,” he took the picture off of the ofrenda, holding it in his shaking hands, “I’m sorry that I can't be like the rest of you… inventing is something that I really love and -”

A tear dropped onto the glass of the frame and wiped away some of the dust.

“I’m so sorry. I know how much you sacrificed to raise me, even if it was just for a year and I -”

Peter dropped the frame.

“No, no, no,” he whispered as he pulled the picture out of the shards of glass. He held it close to his chest as the folded part hinged and showed Peter a hidden part of the picture.

That was the arm of the father he didn’t remember.

An arm that wore a repulsor glove.

Only one man had ever had that technology.

“My father is... Obadiah Stane?” he breathed, wiggling the bent part of the picture with his finger.

He looked up into the open air.

“My father is Obadiah Stane!” he said, this time a little louder.

“Obadiah Stane?” a male voice asked from the couch.

Peter’s eyes and attention darted over to his Uncle Rhodey.

“I think I knew an Obadiah Stane,” Rhodey contemplated, getting up and peering over Peter’s shoulder at the picture in Peter’s hand.

“If you knew my father, then you knew Obadiah, Rhodey.”

“Hm,” the man said.

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’ve gotta go to the science fair. If he’s my father then…”

He took his messenger bag off the table and slipped it over his shoulder.

“I have to seize my moment, Rhodey! Don’t tell my aunt or uncle where I’ve gone.”

“Okay,” he said softly as he watched Peter slink out the door.

His feet thumped on the carpet as he ran down the hallway.

He didn’t stop until he was in Midtown Manhattan.

Karen soon joined him and walked by his side. He ran his fingers through his hair while he came up with a plan. Karen kept licking his leg, trying to get him in better spirits, but it did little to help.

When they arrived at Stane tower, he kneeled down to Karen and gave her one last pat on the head before heading into the lobby.

A woman with a clipboard greeted him.

“Are you here to enter the science fair?” she asked with a plastered on smile.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah.”

“What will you be presenting?”

“I don’t know yet. If I could just have a little time…?”

She tilted her head apologetically. “You come up with something soon, kid, and I’ll put you on the list.”

Peter nodded, and she let him into the lobby. Teenagers were all over the place, displaying their impressive creations. A drone flew past Peter’s face, causing him to wince.

“Sorry!” a girl yelled as she chased the flyaway.

Peter felt like a kid in a candy store, hundreds of like minded people surrounding him.

The lobby was a mind-numbing maze of displays. A clock made from a potato was on his right, a fake volcano on his left.

Peter could spend the rest of his life ogling over the different experiments, but he had an objective set in his head.

He knew that if he could somehow get onto sublevel two, he could get the materials he needed to build an arc reactor. A real one.

If what he was thinking was correct - that he needed a 1.5 gram palladium core - then he was set. He could win and prove to Ben and May that science wasn’t so bad after all.

Peter knew that there was an elevator just a couple feet outside of the lobby. He approached that area, but the main part of the building was roped off. Peter simply looked both ways before ducking under it.

He investigated the location of the elevator, stepping in with surprise when the door opened.

“Welcome,” a soft male voice read, “Biometric scan complete.”

Peter nodded to himself. It would only make sense that the building could read his genetics and know that he is a Stane.

He pressed the B2 button, drumming his fingers on the railing as the elevator moved downward.

Soon, the movement slowed then stopped and elevator doors opened. He was let out into a long and dark hallway. Sparse lights glowed amongst the shadows.

Peter barely let his feet touch the floor as he tip-toed down the hall. He approached a tall glass door and wrapped his fingers around the smooth handle, smiling when the AI welcomed him into the room.

He saw the materials he needed in the corner of his eye, but he was drawn to a glowing light blue piece of machinery on a table in the center of the room. It felt like instinct, to reach out and touch the triangle with a metal base.

Peter leapt back as millions of nanoparticles wrapped themselves around his body.

Something metal clanked shut over his face, enveloping him in darkness.

He froze as his heart beat a million miles an hour.

Peter tried to take a step forward, but he fell through the metal suit and tripped, falling onto his knees.

He looked up at it as it flowed back onto the table and took the shape of a triangle once again.

He jumped up and raced down the hallway, adrenalin driving his movements. He tripped over himself, flinging his body into the elevator.

Heaved breaths chased themselves out of his lungs, and as soon as the elevator dinged, he found himself face to face with a man in a lab coat.

“I’m so sorry sir,” Peter said quickly, “I shouldn’t have gone down there and I -”

The man didn’t react.

Peter ran out of the elevator.

“Excuse me! Sorry!” he shouted as he ran through the maze of people. He saw the girl from earlier, and he tried to wave, but she just looked right past him and walked… through him?

Peter looked at his hands and ran them through his hair.

He darted out of the tower and into the street.

People on the sidewalk waked through him without a second glance. He became more and more distraught, looking for anyone he knew.

When he saw Ben and May walking towards him, his face relaxed.

“Peter?” they called out as they looked for him.

He tried to embrace them, but he tripped right through them and into a mud puddle on the side of the street. Peter wiped the mud from his eyes and tried his best not to cry.

“Oh my god, kid, are you alright?” a man with a gruff voice and a hat asked, reaching out a helping hand.

“Thanks,” Peter said, taking it, “I -”

He looked at the man’s face and saw nothing but a skull. He screamed, backing up, but he bumped right into another skeleton. He tried to run away, but he bumped into another, and another, and another.

He found himself surrounded by dead people.

“Help!” he called as he scrambled to get away.

A loud bark sounded, and soon, Peter was being tackled by a golden retriever.

Karen licked his face, and he looked around at the skeletons who were in a circle around him.

“Peter?” one of them asked.

“Is that really Peter?”

“You’re here? And you can see us?”

A female skeleton came forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Peter,” she sighed.

“How do I know you?” Peter asked in a small voice.

She pulled away for a second and her face briefly fell before she wore a big smile. “We’re your family, kid.”

Peter was the one to pull away this time, and he studied her face, eyes darting from feature to feature.

“Grandma?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a real struggle since i finished my 13 nights of halloween series, so i'm really happy that i was able to get this out into the world.
> 
> regardless, thanks for reading!
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)!


	2. cursed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made a mistake in my excitement last chapter! when peter says "pepper?" its supposed to say "grandma?"
> 
> sorry and enjoy! (:

“Grandma?”

“Yeah, kid. It’s me,” she said with a watery smile.

Peter was the one to initiate the embrace this time, enveloping his grandmother in a tight hug.

Soon, he broke away and looked at the skeletons surrounding them. His gaze stuck on one of them, a skeleton with rounded features and soft eyes. He remembered the man from the ofrenda and even in death, he was somehow still recognizable.

“Uncle Happy?” he asked and tilted his head.

The man who had helped him on the side of the street tipped his hat. “Hi, Peter.”

Peter’s eyes went over to the next man, noticing his tufts of orange hair and sharp jawline.

“Grandpa?”

“Hello, Pete.”

There was another short man with rounded features, but this man had deep brown eyes and hunched shoulders that carried an air of anxiety.

“Uncle Bruce?”

The man cowered a little bit, but waved. “Hi,” he said.

The next skeleton, a woman, had Peter recalling that she used to have corded muscle lining her body. She had curly red hair pulled into a bun, her stance defensive.

“Aunt Natasha?”

“Hey,” she smiled, arms crossed. She unfolded her arms and walked up to him, raising a finger. She poked him on the cheek decisively, to which Peter flinched. Instead of reacting, she just intensely stared at him. “He doesn’t seem entirely dead.”

Bruce shrugged. “But not entirely alive, either.”

Someone on the street walked through Peter, which caused his body to briefly disperse.

Happy pursed his lips and gestured away. “We need Pepper. She’ll know how to fix this.”

A man with sharp, jagged features approached the group.

“Hey!” he said, and Peter recognized him to be cousin Morgan. “It’s Pepper. She’s stuck on the other side and couldn’t cross over.”

“I have a feeling this has something to do with you,” Natasha frowned, looking pointedly at Peter.

“If she can’t come to us, then we should go to her,” Happy suggested and took Peter’s hand. The man focused his trusting gaze on Peter, which caused Peter to instinctually give a small nod. 

They walked to a towering flower bridge with Karen following and barking excitedly.

When they reached the border, Peter hesitated.

“Come on Peter. It’s okay,” Happy reassured. He held the hand out that Peter had dropped.

Karen ran right onto the bridge as Peter took Happy’s hand again. He carefully set foot on the petals, which glowed under his footsteps.

He bent down and pulled up a handful of the marigolds, tossing them into the air with a hearty laugh.

Karen seemed to like that, so she jumped up and chased a petal halfway over the bridge. Peter ran after her. 

“Karen!” Peter half yelled and half laughed, kneeling down to her level. She rolled around in the flowers and howled wildly with her tongue hanging out.

“You’ve gotta stay with me, girl,” he said, rubbing her upturned belly, “We don’t know where we…”

His jaw dropped open at the impressive beauty of the Land of the Dead. Millions of little lights danced across the skyline, a hazy glow of thousands of colors. There were little bungalows, too, sitting atop of a beautiful navy sky.

The Land of the Dead was alive, much like New York.

Peter’s breath was taken away when he walked to the edge of the bridge. He took in every color and smell. He wanted to remember the way the marigold petals felt beneath his feet.

The family soon caught up with him and Happy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“So this isn’t a dream, then,” Peter smiled in awe, “You’re all really out here.”

“You thought we weren’t?” Natasha smirked.

“Well, I don’t know. I thought it might be one of those made-up things adults tell kids. Like, you know, the tooth fairy.”

She cheered. “I called it, Bruce. I knew he didn’t believe in the tooth fairy anymore.”

Bruce’s eyes darted to the side and he wrung his fingers together. “Sorry for holding out a little hope, Nat.”

A kind female voice came over the loudspeaker as the family stepped off of the bridge. 

“ _Welcome back to the Land of the Dead! Please have all offerings ready for re-entry. If you are having travel issues, agents at the Department of Family Reunions are available to assist you. Remember to return before sunrise! Have a nice visit._ ”

Peter caught sight of a short skeleton approaching the scanner to be admitted into the Land of the Living. He wore a short blonde wig and a yellow baseball t-shirt with black sleeves.

“Yes,” the skeleton smiled, “It really is Amanda Armstrong.”

The woman manning the scanner frowned, but ran the machine anyway. A giant ‘X’ blinked red on the screen.

“Well, shoot, Amanda. It looks like no one put your photo up this year.”

He tore off his wig and threw it down onto the ground. He leaned on the counter, giving her a charmingly lopsided smile. “Okay, I admit all of that was a lie… and I apologize for doing that. If you could just -“

“No photo, no entry.” She whistled and waved a hand at the man. “Security!”

The man darted past groups of families by the way of the bridge. Instead of being able to walk on top, he sank into the sea of flower petals.

“Stupid flower bridge,” he groaned as he was yanked out of the flowers and pulled away by security.

Peter watched from under his hood with wide eyes as he was ushered away from the chaos. Any memory of the man was pushed to the back of his mind.

When the family approached security, a different guard smiled wide. “Welcome back everyone! Do you have anything to declare?”

Cousin Morgan smiled apologetically. “As a matter of a fact, we do.”

Peter was gently pushed up to the counter by Happy. Peter waggled his fingers in a wave as Natasha pulled his hood down.

The guard‘s jaw dropped right off of his face.

**x**

Groups of distressed people walked around the Department of Family reunions in fury or in sorrow.

Peter kept his head down and ignored the gasps of utter shock as he walked by. Every once in a while, a family member would wave to the onlookers with pursed lips.

Nobody’s eyes stayed glued on him for long, though.

Eventually, Karen began to bark and whine at anyone in their path.

Peter patted her back. “You’re such a good girl,” he whispered.

Karen’s drool dripped onto the tile floor as she looked at him with sweet eyes.

Eventually, they were let into a smaller room where groups were meeting with agents.

Peter was unsure of what to do, so he looked up at his family. Their eyes darted all over the place until they landed on one woman politely speaking with an agent.

“There she is,” Bruce sighed with relief and gestured toward a tall woman with long strawberry colored hair. Her entire countenance was distressed.

“I’m sorry miss,” the agent said, “but no one put up your photo this year.”

“That’s not possible,” she sighed, running her bony fingers through her hair, “my family always puts up my photo.”

Happy calmly approached her and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Pepper?” he said softly.

“Happy,” she smiled sadly, and wrapped him in a hug, “they wouldn’t let me cross the bridge.”

“It’s okay, Pepper, we’ll figure it out.”

“Did you make it to the ofrenda? Is my photo up?”

Happy wrung his fingers together. “We didn’t, uh, we didn’t make it to the ofrenda.”

Her face dropped.

“But, we did bring someone to see you.”

Peter wore wide, hopeful eyes as he was forced forward by the family.

“Peter?” she said breathlessly. She rushed forward and wrapped her boy tightly in an embrace.

“It’s me, it’s me,” he choked with watery eyes.

They only pulled away when a voice called them.

“Are you the Potts family?” a man with a clipboard said as he pushed open a large door.

They all gave a small nod.

**x**

“Well, you’re cursed.”

Peter slowly blinked. “Excuse me?”

The skeleton that had the clipboard dug around the room, causing papers to fly into the air. “The Day of the Dead is about giving to the dead. Kid, you stole from the dead.”

“But I wasn’t stealing the suit!” 

“The suit?” Pepper said with blank eyes.

“Yeah,” he sighed sheepishly, “I just thought my father would’ve wanted me to have it -”

“We do not speak of that scientist! He is dead to this family.”

“You’re all dead…”

Just then, Karen leapt up onto the table and snatched some sweets from the agent’s plate.

The agent backed up. “Excuse me, who’s alebrije is that?”

Peter’s brows knitted and he slowly shook his head. “She doesn’t look like an alebrije.”

“Well, whatever she is -” he sneezed, “- I am extremely allergic.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry sir,” Peter mumbled and moved Karen away from the man.

“It’s quite alright son,” he smiled, “but I must ask, what else are you guys here for?”

“I can’t cross over,” Pepper spoke up, “It has to be a glitch or something…”

Guilt washed over Peter in waves. He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a picture that was creased many times over.

“I’m so sorry,” he swallowed, “I meant to put it back but then…”

“How do we send him back?” Pepper asked, uncharacteristically short with her son.

Everyone looked to the agent.

“Well, the only way to undo a family’s curse is to get your family’s blessing. But you’ve gotta do it by sunrise.”

“What happens at sunrise?” Peter asked, face downcast. His eyes darted to his feet, but something else caught his eye.

His fingers were turning to bone.

Fear coursed through his veins and his heart began to beat a million miles an hour. The world got fuzzy around the edges and went a little darker.

The man leapt out of his creaking chair, jolting Peter awake. “Don’t worry, little boy. Your family is right here and you can get your blessing now.”

He jumped up and picked a marigold petal from Peter’s hair, handing it to Pepper.

“Now, look at the living and say his name.”

“Peter,” she said, but her voice was a twisted combination of emotions, ones that didn’t belong together.

“Nailed it! Now say ‘I give you my blessing.’”

“I give you my blessing.” 

The flower petal began to glow.

“I give you my blessing to go home, to put the photo back on the ofrenda, and to… never invent again,” she added, confused pain searing her gaze.

“She can’t do that,” Peter frowned.

“Well, technically, she can.”

“Fine,” he shrugged with rolled eyes as he reached for the petal.

As soon as his finger made contact, hundreds of marigolds wrapped around his body.

He was in the basement once again, next to the weird triangle. He giggled in awe, shrugging off the odd experience. His finger reached for the device again and made contact with a dull tap. 

The nanoparticles enveloped him again, but they looked strangely like flower petals. He found himself returned to the Land of the Dead.

He tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face. The whole family turned around at the sudden intrusion. 

“Peter,” Pepper sighed, “It’s literally been two seconds.”

He looked down at the ground. “Why can’t another family member giving me their blessing? Without the unnecessary conditions?”

Peter reached down and grabbed another flower petal, holding it out to Happy.

“Could you help me?”

Happy ducked away, shaking his head. Peter repeated this with all of his family and each of them had the same answer.

“Aw, Pepper, please. You really hate science that much?”

“Don’t make this hard, Peter.”

“It doesn’t have to be hard. I still have a whole life ahead of me!”

“A life that I don’t want you living like your father.”

Peter’s face fell and he reached into his hoodie pocket, feeling that the photo was still there. “That’s it,” he whispered to himself, “I know exactly where I need to go to get my blessing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos to anyone who caught my reference to tony's birth mother from 616
> 
> thanks for reading!
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)!


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